Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation.
The Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. Australia is in the grip of its worst drought on record, the victim of changing weather patterns attributed to global warming and a government that is only just starting to wake up to the severity of the position.
Earth Changes
IT'S guilty of looking crook and causing an almighty stench, but innocent of leaving swimmers with itchy skin.
The stunning white sand beaches of Jervis Bay have been swamped with a bloom of red algae washed ashore by sea breezes.
The stunning white sand beaches of Jervis Bay have been swamped with a bloom of red algae washed ashore by sea breezes.
|
| ©The Daily Telegraph |
| Crimson coast ... the usually white sands of the beach at Huskisson at Jervis Bay is turned red by an algae bloom. |
At least four earthquakes with a magnitude of about 6.0 on the Richter scale shook the East China Sea early Friday.
High temperatures can reverse the sex of dragon lizards before they hatch, turning males into females.
The finding, detailed in the April 20 issue of the journal Science, could have implications for the development of life as the planet's climate warms.
The research reveals that extreme temperatures could inactivate a gene on the male sex chromosomes of dragon lizards and thus turn male embryos into females. The sex-reversed lizards look female and have female organs but genetically they are male, said lead author Alexander Quinn of the University of Canberra in Australia.
The finding, detailed in the April 20 issue of the journal Science, could have implications for the development of life as the planet's climate warms.
The research reveals that extreme temperatures could inactivate a gene on the male sex chromosomes of dragon lizards and thus turn male embryos into females. The sex-reversed lizards look female and have female organs but genetically they are male, said lead author Alexander Quinn of the University of Canberra in Australia.
When conservation officer Steve Peterson got a call that a timber wolf was chasing vehicles on a country road near Brimson, he thought it was prank or a misidentified German shepherd. But then he saw it firsthand.
"I couldn't believe it. It was like a dog chasing cars,'' Peterson said. "It looked like a big, healthy male wolf. No mange.''
Responding to the call last Friday, Peterson saw the animal hide in the ditch as a pickup approached and then come bounding out to chase it.
The wolf did the same when Peterson drove to that spot, where he stopped his vehicle.
"I couldn't believe it. It was like a dog chasing cars,'' Peterson said. "It looked like a big, healthy male wolf. No mange.''
Responding to the call last Friday, Peterson saw the animal hide in the ditch as a pickup approached and then come bounding out to chase it.
The wolf did the same when Peterson drove to that spot, where he stopped his vehicle.
Japan has sounded an alert for small tsunami waves after a strong earthquake in the southern island chain of Okinawa.
|
| ©AP Photo/Fernando Vergara |
| The Nevado del Huila volcano is seen in this aerial view, at the southwestern state of Huila, Colombia |
NEIVA, Colombia - Thousands of people were evacuated after a long-dormant volcano erupted late Tuesday and again early Wednesday, provoking avalanches and floods that swept away houses and bridges.
The storm that walloped the Northeast on Monday, April 16, was the culmination of a five-day weather event and left behind significant conditions.
|
| ©The Weather Channel |
On the 101 anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake, a 4.8 quake shook the Lake Pillsbury area in northern California, about 150 miles north of San Francisco.
LHASA - China has succeeded in creating artificial snow in the northern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region for the first time, according to the local meteorological department.
Taking advantage of suitable weather conditions, the Tibet meteorological station carried out an artificial snowfall operation in Nagqu County in northern Tibet on April 10 at an altitude of about 4.500 meters.
Taking advantage of suitable weather conditions, the Tibet meteorological station carried out an artificial snowfall operation in Nagqu County in northern Tibet on April 10 at an altitude of about 4.500 meters.
